With Drake's "Views" hitting 1 billion streams mark, the Canadian rapper became the first music artist to achieve such a milestone. Since its release in April, the album has already registered a billion streams and counting.
According to Drake's Instagram account, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple Music head of content Larry Jackson and iTunes top boss Eddy Cue, felicitated Drake with a celebratory plaque for his phenomenal success.
Reports indicate that the most impressive thing about this milestone is how soon they were able to achieve it. A billion is a huge number and most musicians take years to attain a figure even close to it, let alone attaining it. However, Drake was able to achieve this number in a matter of months and sealed an enviable record with the company.
The landmark is a good news not only for Drake but also for Apple as the company negotiated a five-day exclusive deal between Apple Music and "Views" on April 29th. With exclusive deals such as these, Apple Music has secured a spot for itself in the world of music streaming map, shaking Spotify's ground with each success. For now, Apple Music is behind Spotify in paid subscribers, but with "Views" success, it seems only a matter of time when the iPhone maker will catch up.
Not only did Drake sign an exclusive "Views" deal with Apple Music but also recently launched his 23-minute short film, also exclusively available on Apple's streaming service.
According to Billboard, "Please Forgive Me," the 23-minute short film was shot and ready in a week. Filmed in Johannesburg, South Africa, the video was completed before Drake started his latest music tour.
